The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to molecular sponges that purify water, store energy, and help clean up the environment.
Three scientists, including an American researcher, have won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing “metal-organic frameworks” (MOFs), multifunctional molecular frameworks that can trap pollutants, store energy and even deliver drugs to specific areas of the body.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 for a technology with amazing applications
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to a technology with an astonishing range of applications, from environmental cleanup and energy storage to advanced medicine and targeted drug delivery. The technology is “metal-organic frameworks,” or MOFs—materials that act like molecular sponges because of their highly porous structure.
Behind this achievement lie decades of research in basic science, from inorganic chemistry and physical chemistry, which enabled the understanding and design of metal-ligand bonds, to crystallography and solid-state physics, which revealed the structure of these materials at the atomic scale. Even the advanced applications of MOFs are the result of a fundamental understanding of the behavior of matter, energy, and molecular interactions, a knowledge that was initially developed solely to discover the laws of nature.
MOFs are not only present in laboratories, but also in the real world: some of them have entered clinical trials to help treat cancer (in radiotherapy), some are sold to capture carbon dioxide from the cement industry, and others play a role in the production and storage of hydrogen as a clean fuel.
What is a MOF and why is it so important?
MOFs are a combination of chemistry and materials science. They are made by bonding metal ions to organic (carbon-based) molecules. These bonds are repeated in a regular crystal pattern, forming a framework-like structure with holes or pores inside, much like the holes in a sponge.
These frameworks can be:
- one-dimensional or multidimensional,
- made of various metals and organic binders,
- and have pores of precise and nearly uniform sizes.
It is this precise control of pore size that makes MOFs unrivaled tools for separating, absorbing, and storing various materials; a clear example of the connection between basic science and new technologies, which institutions such as the UNESCO Basic Sciences and Technology Club play a key role in promoting and educating.
Nobel Laureates: Architects of Molecular Sponges
Three scientists are behind this major achievement:
- Susumu Kitagawa
- Richard Robson
- Omar M. Yaghi
The three researchers were jointly awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and will share 11 million Swedish kronor (about $1 million).
In a press conference, Omar Yaghi, a chemist at the University of California, Berkeley, pointed to broader applications, including trapping highly hazardous gases. MOFs, he said, “open up completely new avenues of application that other materials have not been able to do.”
The Birth of MOFs; From Idea to Reality
The idea for the first MOFs came from the mind of Richard Robson, a researcher at the University of Melbourne. His inspiration was the tetrahedral structure of carbon atoms in diamonds; a pyramidal and highly ordered structure.
He mixed a compound of copper with an organic compound called nitrile (a molecule containing nitrogen and carbon). The result was a repeating structure with small empty spaces; something like the initial skeleton of MOFs. At this stage, basic science, especially inorganic chemistry, crystallography and understanding of electronic interactions, played a key role in making such a combination possible. Of course, these early examples were not very stable and there was still a long way to go before practical applications; a challenge that paved the way for decades of fundamental research that followed.
The real power of MOFs lies in their pores.
The secret to the power of MOFs lies in their porous nature, says Ling Zang, a materials scientist at the University of Utah, a concept that is also used in the training and outreach activities of the UNESCO Basic Science and Technology Club as a clear example of how basic science can be used to solve environmental challenges. She uses MOFs to remove PFAS from water, a group of highly persistent chemicals known as “always-on chemicals.”
An important feature of MOFs is that:
- A small amount of them can adsorb a very large amount of the target material.
- Pore sizes can range from less than a nanometer to several nanometers.
PFAS and MOFs: A Battle at the Nanoscale
Pore size is crucial for removing PFAS, as these materials have chains of varying lengths:
- Some have just two carbon atoms,
- Others have eight or even 10 carbon atoms.
Zhang is designing MOFs that fluoresce (give off light) when their pores are full. This means the user knows exactly when to replace the MOF, much like the indicator light on a home water filter.
Research and Application Prospects for MOFs
Although the article refers to current applications, the future of MOFs is even broader:
- Providing drinking water from dry air in desert regions
- Reducing greenhouse gases by selective CO₂ absorption
- Safe hydrogen storage for clean energy
- Targeted drug delivery with minimal side effects
- For this reason, many scientists consider MOFs to be one of the most promising materials of the 21st century.
Resource: Scientific American